Khinjaria
Sign in to saveKhinjaria (meaning "dagger") is an extinct genus of plioplatecarpine mosasaurid from the Late Cretaceous Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco. The genus contains a single species, K. acuta, known from a partial skull and vertebra. Khinjaria was likely an apex predator in its environment, as its large body size, blade-like teeth, and unusual skull morphology would have allowed it to attack large prey animals.
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- marine reptile
- Length
- 8
Show 4 more facts
- time period
- Maastrichtian
- location of discovery
- Ouled Abdoun Basin
- taxon name
- Khinjaria
- taxon rank
- genus
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Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Classification
- References
Khinjaria (meaning "dagger") is an extinct genus of plioplatecarpine mosasaurid from the Late Cretaceous Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco. The genus contains a single species, K. acuta, known from a partial skull and vertebra. Khinjaria was likely an apex predator in its environment, as its large body size, blade-like teeth, and unusual skull morphology would have allowed it to attack large prey animals.
== Discovery and naming == The Khinjaria holotype specimen, MHNM.KHG.521, was discovered in sediments of the Oulad Abdoun Basin (Lower Couche III, Sidi Chennane locality) in Khouribga Province, Morocco. The specimen consists of a partial skull (with a partial premaxilla, both maxillae, the prefrontals, the frontal and parietal, right postorbitofrontal, partial right squamosal, and a dentary) and an associated vertebra, possibly coming from the trunk region.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Khinjaria” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.